NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE) Jan. 15, 2001 IPNet Solutions Inc., a provider of B2B integration and supply chain collaboration solutions, recently announced it is now guaranteeing prospects that they will achieve a faster ROI (return on investment) using its B2B e-commerce solution in comparison with competitive offerings.
A return to business fundamentals, including old-line ROI calculations and cost-cutting measures, is overdue. One of the primary barriers to financing B2B budgets is credible metrics, said Don Willis, founder and CEO of IPNet. IPNet is taking a bold step forward by offering a guarantee focused on delivering the fastest B2B ROI.
Companies should focus on and measure improvements in margins on both sides of any B2B relationship, said Kevin O'Marah, service director for Supply Chain Strategies, AMR Research. If your supplier or any other trading partner does not see a positive ROI from B2B, the supply chain changes intended will not stick. The key is to stick to simple metrics and insist on real ROI in the short term.
Using a simple model for ROI, we were able to justify purchasing eBizness Transact and were able to keep it within the scope of our near-term budget period, said Matt Sidden, manager of electronic commerce at ECMD, an IPNet customer. Since achieving full implementation, we have been able to demonstrate hard-dollar savings in excess of initial projections, average transaction costs were reduced by 63 percent and ROI will be attained in 10 months or less a full two months ahead of our initial projections.
Of the supply chain solutions we considered, IPNet provided the fastest return on investment. Because IPNet eBizness Transact is flexible to work with a wide range of companies, we have been able to get our trading community up and running very quickly. Our largest vendors see the biggest payoff. They get stars in their eyes when they learn how much they can save annually, said Glenn Hamilton, manager of quick response, HomeBase/House2Home, an IPNet customer.
We believe we can accelerate participation in e-business initiatives by defining clear-cut ROIs and time-to-benefits for our e-commerce applications, said Willis. With a realistic financial framework, companies can confidently move forward with strategic initiatives, taking advantage of all that the new economy has to offer.
IPNet's B2B ROI guarantee leverages only demonstrable, hard-dollar savings by examining existing business processes and calculating savings customers will achieve by implementing IPNet eBizness Transact. IPNet's e-commerce initiatives also offer many significant strategic, soft benefits such as improved trading relationships, better communication and supply chain collaboration, ability to increase transaction and information flow through the integrated supply chain, etc.
The greater the percentage of business you conduct electronically, the greater cost savings you will achieve, said Willis. To achieve the fastest ROI, companies should focus on connecting as many trading partners as they can. Our solution helps drive peak supply chain participation in the shortest amount of time.
IPNet's free ROI analysis is available at www.ipnet4u.com. Visitors to the site take less than 60 seconds to fill out the appropriate information and submit it to IPNet for evaluation. Using this information, IPNet will then issue a preliminary ROI analysis to each qualified applicant addressing potential savings and time to ROI.
A formal ROI guarantee is issued after IPNet experts and the customer work together to build a detailed plan to achieve the customer's objectives in their desired timeframe. If the target ROI is not met and the milestones in the plan have been hit, the customer is entitled to receive the subsequent year's maintenance fees for free (approximately a 17% savings off the software cost).
